1. Shipping, probably 25-30% of the landed cost of a race/light board is shipping and that's if you send it on a slow boat, if you air freight it then it's 50% We can ship 3 twintips in the space that one Kiaola takes up.

2. Manufacture costs. The bigger you go the fewer manufacturing options you have. Few production race boards are made from shaped blown blanks, more likely shaped from multiple sheet layers of foam which has less tooling cost but greater labour cost.

3. Production volume. You are making far fewer of these type boards so every part of the process costs more. You have to pay for downtime, swapping between products, as well actual production time. You also have MOQ, minimum order quantities to fulfil.

4. Amortization. You make fewer and they sit on shelves longer costing you in ageing, that has to be calculated into the price.

And then last but by no means least, you have to stay in business and to do that you need to make a profit. It's just an inescapable fact that niche products cost commensurately more than volume products.

$500 sale going right now for 6'0" Quadra 5 and 6'2" Flexifire...only direct through them. PM with any questions or anyone else and I can point you in the right direction (not sales pitch, just being informative).

Your $785 number is about right for a standard kite board in the lineup. North copied the Sweet Potato. The Baked Potato is a more performance driven Sweet Potato. The Strapless lineup from Firewire will reflect a price decrease due to less hardware in the boards. Really though...Firewire boards are priced slightly lower than most brands already. The current models are nearly bombproof. People fuss about the price...but how about knowing that if you do buy a FW it will last for years. Surfboards shaped run around $300-600 depending on who you know, etc...and surfboards from a surf shop usually run $600 plus depending on the size/shape, etc. So in the end, $700-$900 is pretty competitive and not far off considering the lower market demand and unique construction they go through. If you are pushing the $1000+ mark...that is just ridiculous.

And for your question regarding the north price bandwagon...there is no point to increase the price of the boards to deter customers. They currently are fairly priced and FW has no plans to increase...FW is always looking at ways to help the rider get a board at a reasonable price.

So in the end, $700-$900 is pretty competitive and not far off considering the lower market demand and unique construction they go through. If you are pushing the $1000+ mark...that is just ridiculous.

..but the firewires here comes without fins $100, without pads: $30-50, without a bag $75, and without footstraps: $45

So in the end, $700-$900 is pretty competitive and not far off considering the lower market demand and unique construction they go through. If you are pushing the $1000+ mark...that is just ridiculous.

..but the firewires here comes without fins $100, without pads: $30-50, without a bag $75, and without footstraps: $45

so..the price is not lower the way I see it.

Every firewire KITEboard comes with fins and hardware for the straps. Firewire SURFboards do NOT come with fins (two separate entities within firewire)...and that is on the surf side so it's not even relevant.

What surfboard or kite board comes with a surf bag? Wait until memorial day or labor day sales and buy a $10 deck pad and $20 surf bag. Now we are starting to whine a little...do you want directional kite lessons too in the package?aThe board and fins are all you need to get started...you figure out the rest Mr. Taut.

Every firewire KITEboard comes with fins and hardware for the straps. Firewire SURFboards do NOT come with fins (two separate entities within firewire)...and that is on the surf side so it's not even relevant.

Well my friends that got them had no fins or anything like that. That were the kiteboards.

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What surfboard or kite board comes with a surf bag?

The Naish boards comes with bags. I'm sure some others do as well (I think Best does).

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Wait until memorial day or labor day sales and buy a $10 deck pad and $20 surf bag. Now we are starting to whine a little...do you want directional kite lessons too in the package?aThe board and fins are all you need to get started...you figure out the rest Mr. Taut.

huh? whine? Because I am pointing out that you are comparing boards that comes with more accessories which was the whole discussion right? You can't moan about a price, but when people point out that you are comparing two different things you tell them that they whine? Doing that puts you in the retarded category.

Also if it is a matter of waiting for a sale, then all surfboards comes on sale at some point...so just wait for that then??

I invited you to go away, after you said you don't care what I think or what I was talking about in this thread.

No I think you misunderstood. I love exchanging ideas, but all the other small pokes at me personally was the stuff i don't care about. I think it is sad, but that is about it.

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But you're back with the same stuff again and now you've managed to get Screwfoot irritated at you too. Please respond with some new ideas, and try not to get yourself sideways with anyone else. Good luck to youuuuuuuu!!!

What is my one idea? That you pay for what you get? That most boards cost about the same unless you buy a costco board? If that is it, then yes, and I think I have shown it pretty clearly that this is the case. I've realized the futility of convincing you, and that is fine. To the extent that I write my experience, and then Screwfoot ask me if I need a lesson with the board has really nothing to do with anything.

edit: I actually did go to the firewire site and confirmed in some faq that the boards come standard with footstraps and fins. My buddies boards did not. Maybe because they got a deal on them? I dunno...but that is where part of the confusion came from

1. Shipping, probably 25-30% of the landed cost of a race/light board is shipping and that's if you send it on a slow boat, if you air freight it then it's 50% We can ship 3 twintips in the space that one Kiaola takes up.

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